Searching for the Zeison Sha
by Pokybyte
Summary: An amnesiac Nautolon, a poor girl and a droid set out to unconver his quite possibly sordid past. OC. No soppy or angsty stuff, lots of action, twists and turns, not to mention dead Gungans! RnR : starts around Episode 1 timeline rated T for violence
1. The Lost Nautolon

**I don't own Star Wars. I wish I did.**

**A Nautolon's Quest for Memories**

**The lost Nautolon**

Ben Mibak slowly navigated his ship through the junk field, desperately looking for something of value.

"Why do I even do this," he wondered aloud. He asked himself this question every time he was out here, and each time the answer was the same: he had nothing else to do, and he refused to sell his ship. "One day, I'll find something worth something here, I don't care what anyone says. The recyclers always miss something, and one day they'll miss-"

His train of thought was interrupted as he spotted a white capsule of some sort slowly spinning through the debris. It was the size of, and looked like, a coffin. He locked on to the item and used his tractor beam to pull it into his cargo hold. Excited at the thought of having found something modern-looking (and therefore expensive), he ran through his otherwise empty ship to inspect his find. It was a cryogenic hibernation capsule. Rescue capsules sometimes had them when the ship they were in went to remote regions where the pilot might not be found for months or even years, but he'd never heard of one here. Someone, presumably the occupant, had hastily scrawled a message in Basic on the side.

_I am Kulon Taimo, PLEASE HELP ME_

This felt like a very stupid thing to do. Stroking his hands over the smooth surface of the rescue capsule, he finally dared to look through the little window.

What he saw shocked him somewhat: "What the HELL are you?" he almost screamed in exclamation. "You're almost like a Twi'lek, just... not."

He was right, almost. The creature in the capsule was a Nautolan. He had many more tendrils than your average Twi'lek, and his forehead was larger. He was a lighter shade of green than the infamous Bib Fortuna for example, and the tendrils were brown in part. His body was sensationally muscular and he obviously had strong hands. _Could fetch quite a price as a slave_, thought Ben before quickly dismissing the thought as immoral. His unexpected passenger wore nothing, but this was normal for cryogenic freezing. You didn't want your clothes to get stuck to your body or cause some sort of horrifying problem. "let's take you home."

-----

Normally, one would have had to worry about the ship being stolen, but a combination of bribes and the appalling state of the spacecraft meant Ben didn't have to worry too much. Unfortunately this time he would have to somehow hide his find from Laxal, the Rodian who always took 50%. _And would probably shoot me in a heartbeat for that cryogenic freezer_, he mused. By now he usually just went to Laxal without the Rodian ever looking through his ship. The main reason for this was that he was never particularly successful and the 500 credits or so cuts he got just weren't worth the effort to the gangster; he had other _Karstags_ to flog who were far more profitable.

_No problem, just pretend today was really bad, _he figured. It wouldn't be the first time. He took out 300 credits he had kept to buy a present for his daughter Dada with. _Sorry princess, you'll have to wait... again_.

He entered the bar where Laxal spent most of his time collecting "protection" money. Ben hated it there. The smell of deathsticks, burn wounds and vomit wasn't the worst part about the place. No, the worst part was the clientèle. They were all local thugs, members of the Rodian speeder bike gang who roamed the slums in search of money, drugs and women. In that order. It seemed that none of them had ever heard of a good scrub either. They knew him well enough by now and let him be as he walked up to Laxal's sabacc table. There he was: dark green, ugly elongated face in the red jumpsuit he wore every single day.

"Mibak! Finished already today?" he asked in heavily accented Basic. He obviously found it hard to speak, the _sh_-sound always having been a particular problem.

"Yes Laxal," answered Ben. Some trouble with my ship again, but I managed to find a slab of durasteel that fetched an alright price. Here's your cut."

Ben handed over 200 credits. "That's it? Don't cheat me you womprat! Give me another hundred or there'll be trouble!" shouted the Rodian angrily. It was always the same and Ben knew it. That's why he hadn't handed everything over the first time. He put the rest of the money on the table. "Now leave! You've wasted enough of my time already. I should shoot you for your cheek!"

Ben turned and left, hearing the roars of laughter coming from the table as the Rodians mocked the pathetic human.

-----

He felt cold. Very cold. He opened his eyes and a shot of fear ran through his body. _I can't see_, he realized quickly. _Or move. _ He tried to shout. _No can do either_.

Voices. He could hear arguing, but it felt so far away. He tried to move his head sideways to hear better, but he couldn't. The voices became clearer.

"What do you _mean _you spent your savings on saving him? Are you out of your mind?" screamed a woman. "We barely have enough food to eat and you go spending money and not working?"

Someone was being very apologetic but defensive. A man. Suddenly there was a high pitched beeping very near to the listener's head. It was deafening.

"He's thawing!" shouted a younger female voice. "This is so exciting! I wonder what his story is! A Nautolan drifting through space in a cryogenic hibernation capsule..."

"That's what he is? A Nautolan?" asked the man. "I thought they kept to themselves?"

"Well usually they do," she answered. "But some travel around. Some, like this guy. I can't wait to talk to him."

"Talk to him? We're dumping him at the nearest clinic! Right, now!" shouted the older woman.

The heat gave a pleasant tingling feeling, but it burned like hell at the same time. Suddenly, his body jerked up and took in a huge breath of air. The pain was excruciating. There were three screams of surprise.

"Look at the teeth on this guy!" someone shouted. "Hey! Kulon! Can you hear me? Answer me. Can you hear me Kulon?"

_I'm not Kulon, I'm... who am I? I don't who I am! _ Suddenly he felt as if he were being blinded by a projector an inch from his eyes. _The pain! _Darkness overcame him again. This cycle went on several times, although for how long Kulon had no idea. He had decided to adopt the name for now, until he found something more suitable.

The younger female voice had turned out to be called Dada. She was the one who was there nearly all the time, dabbing a cold towel on his forehead when his fever was too strong. "Who would have known that cryogenic hibernation was so dangerous?" she asked once, to nobody in particular. She was busy staring at his scary-looking black, open eyes.

"Everyone. That's why we use Bacta tanks," said the older man, who Kulon had identified as Ben. "What do you expect? You're freezing your body. Many people have died. Plus, if the machine screws up the wake-up process, you can be paralyzed for the rest of your life." He gave a short pause. "The capsule said he'd been in hibernation for three decades. This is going to be a fun wake-up, if you ask me."

Kulon was shocked at that revelation. It obviously showed. "He just twitched! He moved his finger! Do it again Kulon!" shouted Dada.

_Aha! Progress! Let's give this another try. _His right index finger moved.

"Yes! He's awake! This is so cool!" shouted Dada excitedly.

Over the next couple of hours, Kulon and Dada practiced moving different fingers and toes. After a while he could do them with no effort at all, and the blood started flowing in earnest. The feeling he had when moving his limbs – even if only very slight – was one of euphoria. His vision started coming back and even if it was still very blurry, he could now distinguish different shapes. He now knew he was in a small Grey room with a light on the ceiling. When he managed to turn his head for the first time, he got his first sight of three humans. His tendrils were awake now. He could smell their presence, the mother's fear, the man's nervousness and in Dada he could tell a mixture of joy, fear and... menstruation? Exhausted, he went back to sleep after being given some water for his very parched throat.

"Good morning!" said Dada as she woke him from his slumber. He groaned in response – _progress! -_ and his eyes focused almost immediately. The sleep had obviously done them some good. "Here, let me get you into a more comfortable position."

She tried to pick up his upper body but he was too heavy, so she returned with her mother. Together, they lifted him up and put a pillow behind his back, allowing him to sit up. "This is the last time I'm picking him up," said the mother with obvious disgust. "Now get the poor guy something to eat. I'll go make us a bit of money."

With that, she left Dada and Kulon alone. During the whole day, she fussed over him and tried to help him talk and move, but there wasn't much progress.

A week went by like this, and since Kulon couldn't talk she just told him about her troubles when she wasn't practicing moving body parts with him or letting him rest. He could only reply in grunts. Suddenly during the second week, his condition began to improve dramatically. He could move his limbs again and even stand for a short period of time. To Dada, the sight of such an obviously powerful Nautolan learning to walk again was heartbreaking. She told him so.

"You sure talk a lot," he said back. He had a gruff, male voice and it obviously hadn't been easy to say the words, but he had done it. In her excitement she jumped up and hugged him, her tiny frame in stark contrast to his naked mass of muscle. He fell back in surprise and lost his balance, landing hard on the floor. He sensed her pheromones with his tendrils. It was the pheromone that signified worry and regret in humans. He still wondered how he knew this. She obviously cared a lot for him, but probably mostly because he had broken the monotony of life in the Nar Shadaa slums. Ben explained to him how he'd be found, but Kulon was even more confused. He knew facts, he knew how to calculate and talk, he could list mechanical parts off the top of his head, but he couldn't for the life of him remember learning these things or any other part of his life. It hurt him.

"Tell me Ben, how can I ever pay you back for saving me?" asked Kulon. It was a genuine question, for he felt indebted to the man. By now he had regained almost all his strength, but hadn't been out of the house yet.

"Well, for starters you owe me the 300 credits I paid Laxal to get you through without him noticing anything. Counting rent and food, I'd say that'd make 500," answered Ben, calculating his head.

"I don't have any money to give, you know that. I can find a job I guess..." started Kulon. "But I wouldn't know what or where." _Although at least I have clothes now. _They were cheap, but better than nothing and he felt comfortable in them. Dada had given them to him as an encouraging gift.

Dada rescued him again: "Father, he could help me get the groceries today. The bikers have been getting touchy-feely again and taking stuff every time I go. I don't think they'd dare with him at my side."

Ben liked this idea. The thought of his daughter being molested by these... scumbags was enough to convince him that any protection would be better than none. After all, Kulon cut an impressive figure: he had broad shoulders, huge muscles and, although he wasn't very tall, he was scary. Dora, his wife, had refused to be in the same room as him since he had stood up. "Alright. It'll give you some of our moon's notorious fresh air I guess, and maybe you can find something to do. I'll see you later."

With that, Ben went to work, and Kulon and Dada went to get food. The smell when they left their little house was overpowering. It wasn't so much a house as a two-room apartment in a gigantic complex of apartments. Dirt was everywhere and rodents happily ran around the path, knowing they were far too toxic to eat. Kulon felt his eyes burn a little and he blinked – something he hadn't found himself doing since he'd awoken the first time.

"This is where we live. Not really that nice huh?" Dada started. "Well, it is home though. Everyone who can leaves, so all my friends have," she finished sadly.

"Why haven't you left?" asked Kulon, interested.

"Because I don't have the money, have no skills to offer in return for my first ride away, and don't want to leave my parents alone."

"Well how did your friends learn something useful?"

"They didn't. They're either dead, or they joined a gang, or they signed a contract promising to be slaves for 5 years and get a lump sum of money at the end," she finished angrily.

They continued walking, and after a minute to calm down, she continued: "I'm learning to be a droid mechanic, but I can only go when I have enough money to pay a lesson. The guy's nice, but he's poor too you know..."

"I could probably help you with that. Every broken item I see in your house I get the desperate urge to fix. I haven't yet, but I probably won't be able to resist for ever..." he said, opening himself up more than he'd meant to.

"Why resist? That'd be how you can repay Father!" she exclaimed excitedly.

At the shop, she showed him the assortment of root vegetables, leaves and synthfoods on offer. They were all very cheap and not very healthy, but they made you full and kept you alive. She decided to give him a good meal and bought some of the more expensive items on the list. He carried the bag for her and they chatted. Suddenly, her face went dark.

"Watch out for those Rodians there in the black jackets," she warned, nodding her head towards four of them leaning against the wall. "They're the ones who bother me usually."

Kulon just nodded. He straightened his back and flexed his muscles. As they got nearer, the Rodians moved from the wall to block the path. The one in the middle started:

"Woooh, Dada, who da noo boyfweind? You don like me no moh?"

"Leave me alone g_oogle-eyed barve_!" she answered. "I never liked you Wappo, and I never will, no matter what you do!"

Kulon decided to speak up. "You heard her. Leave her alone and get out of the way."

The four Rodians looked at each other and sniggered then turned back to look at him, vibroblades pulled. "You gonna wegwet bein so diswespectful, Jactna. Let's cut a tendwil from his head as a lesson."

Kulon stepped back and gave the bag of groceries to Dada. "Take a couple of steps back," he whispered to her. "Hey boys, you don't wanna do this, come on. Let's be friends eh? I'm sure I can help you out with something." Although he was trying to reason with them, he knew it probably wouldn't happen, so he got ready. He smelled Dada's fear, he smelled their arrogance. Not to mention their disgusting odor. "One last chance guys, back off!"

"Back off? You dweamin man, 'ight boys?" Wappo turned to the others, who nodded their heads in agreement. "Give us you money and we think about it."

"Don't have money..." he shrugged.

"Then you be losing a tendril! Bekk, get him!" ordered Wappo.

The inexperienced Bekk moved forward, slowly and carefully, holding the vibroblade ready. Kulon looked at him nonchalantly, smelling the young Rodian's fear. _Poor guy, he can probably be redeemed. I won't kill him._ Suddenly, the Rodian decided it was time to strike and lifted the blade up and brought it down towards the Nautolan, who easily grabbed his wrist and stopped it there. Kulon gave a vicious kick to the Rodian kneecap, dislodging it instantly. Bekk screamed, as his leg gave and he started to fall, but Kulon didn't let him, preferring to turn him around by twisting the blade-holding arm around his back and pushing him back to his friends.

"Never take your eyes off your opponent's feet. Now leave us alone," said Kulon. Bekk was screaming in pain, supported by a fellow gang member. He dropped his vibroblade, and Wappo looked stunned.

"You gonna pay for this _Jactna_. Let's get him!"

He and his friends were obviously vastly more experienced than the poor Bekk, who was by now leaning on the railing on the side of the path they were on. It was a long way down if someone was flipped over the side. He limped over to the wall of the building on the other side, where at least it would be safer for him.

The three Rodians faced the Nautolan, wary of their opponent. They were waving their blades about, trying to bring him off balance. _Okay they won't stop until I'm dead. Attack is the best defence in this case._ Kulon jumped to the enemy on his right, who tried to avoid the large fist about to connect with his face at high speed without success. The impact gave a sickening splat as he was hit in the right eye, bone fragments from his brow piercing the eyeball. The Rodian screamed and went down, blood pouring from the wound. Kulon rolled as he landed, picking up his defeated opponent's vibroblade as he went and got back up.

Dada was shocked at the efficiency of the display and gasped as she saw the actual leader of the Rodian's gang watching the fight from a balcony on the opposite side with interest. One of his Rodian cronies began to take aim with a blaster, but it was batted away by the Twi'lek boss who was obviously enjoying this.

The three fighters left in contention faced each other, vibroblades ready. Wappo and the other Rodian tried to attack simultaneously, but Wappo was kicked back by Kulon who then ducked underneath the other's swinging blade, grabbed the wrist above him and drove his vibroblade through the armpit out the other side before pulling it out again. The Rodian screamed as Kulon pushed him away from the fight. Wappo had obviously decided that cutting off a tendril was no longer an option and started pulling out his blaster.

His eyes looked more shocked than anything when he saw the blade spin towards him through the air and implant itself in his chest. He dropped his blaster and reeled back to the railing, where he flipped over it and fell into the slums 200 meters below, landing with a crunch.

Kulon looked at Dada, who was staring at him in shock. It hadn't been two minutes since Wappo had spoken to her, everything had happened so quickly. They walked home together in silence, and up on the balcony the Twi'lek Vreau Moola smirked. He had finally found a diamond in the rough...

**tbc**

**Please review :)**


	2. Diamond in the Rough

**Diamond in the Rough**

"No no no this is _not _good," murmured Ben holding his head in his head. "Why did you have to go and mess with the Rodians? Don't you realize they're part of Vreau Moola's operations? We're all dead!"

He was referring, of course, to the incident that had just occurred minutes earlier on the way home from buying groceries. Kulon had severely injured three gang members and even killed one, all Rodian. Rodians held grudges, not to mention they were part of the Green Dragons. Ben was sure there would be trouble soon.

"I didn't know," answered Kulon. "And they were being disrespectful to your daughter!"

The door burst open as a Gamorrean trudged in holding an ax, followed by two Rodians Rifle to the ready. They fanned out sideways and stopped, taking aim at Kulon, who threw the table over for cover and ducked behind it. The Mibak family screamed and got down, praying for their lives. However, there was no blaster fire. Instead, Vreau Moola walked in, dressed in fine red robes and wearing an inordinately large amount of gold.

"Relax guys, I'm just here on a friendly visit," said Moola in Twi'lek, grinning at the fear displayed by the humans. He always liked to remind them of their inferiority. "I have come here to make a proposal."

Kulon looked over the rim of the table and saw the green creature standing there. He detected no overly aggressive pheromones, so he stood up. "What would that be?" he asked suspiciously. Secretly, he wondered why and how he understood and spoke Twi'lek. An important clue to his past or simply his previous self's hobby? There was no way to know, yet.

"I was impressed by your display earlier. Don't worry about the guys you... disposed of so easily, they were nothing more than bantha-fodder. I could use a guy like you though. There are always people who want to... take a share of my interests, and the fools I usually employ keep failing to defend them. It is hard to find someone who has your ability in a fight around here." The Twi'lek paused. "Of course, you will be paid for these services."

Kulon considered this for a moment. He looked around the room, saw the cowering humans and felt like doing good, not bad. "I'm not interested in becoming a gangster."

"Look, you don't really have a choice," answered the Twi'lek, anger starting to rise in his voice. "I will pay you 1000 credits a week to do as I please. Take it or leave it!"

Kulon thought it over. He didn't have a job, and from what he could tell there weren't many around here that didn't involve some sort of criminal activity. He owed the Mibaks his life, and ultimately that was what would convince him. He could do good as a gangster, helping people out and perhaps even limiting the craziness of his 'colleagues'.

"Alright, you're on. One more thing though: you leave this family alone. And I mean totally: don't molest the girl, don't let Laxal tax the man. If you can honor that, you have a deal. Break it, and I will break you." Kulon was staring at the gangster boss, who had a big toothy grin on his face. There was no doubt the Nautolan cut an impressive figure. He would definitely be useful, and when his usefulness ran out he could be shot in the back or something. Easily defeated in any case, as he had already displayed his first weakness: this family. Vreau wasn't worried.

"Fine, I really couldn't care less about this family's minuscule business ventures. We have a deal. I will send for you tomorrow. Let's go boys."

The gangsters turned and left, leaving a stunned Mibak family. The table was still turned over, Kulon standing behind it with a sour look in his face. _Great. I only just got walking and I'm already basically a gangster._

"We're harboring a criminal now," said Ben. "We should be on the lookout. However, thanks for freeing me from Laxal. I can finally get to work on fixing my ship up a bit. Dada told me you like tinkering, want to come with me some time? Maybe it'll jog your memory."

Kulon nodded enthusiastically at the idea, hoping that working on some circuit boards might remind him of something. He set the table up again and cleaned the mess he'd caused by throwing it over. Dada was still staring at him, but suddenly she pulled him by the sleeve and took him outside.

"How did you do that?" she asked, finally. "The fighting I mean. That was... amazing. It was fluid, it was the most breath-taking display of martial arts I have ever seen"

Kulon took a deep breath. In truth of course, he had wondered the same thing. What had possessed him? It felt so natural when he was doing it, as if he was repeating these moves for the thousandth time. "I dunno. It just somehow felt... right."

----

Kulon walked into his new boss's reception room. The walls were lined with bodyguards, Vreau sitting on a little throne at the side. He was one of the infinite number of skyscrapers in Nar Shadaa, the dull gray or brown spikes that essentially formed the moon's surface. Whilst it wasn't as impressive as a Hutt's residence, it wasn't shabby either: art hung and there were even some very attractive ladies about. At the boss's side was the Rodian who had tried to take aim during the fight with the bikers the day before. The odd-looking creature eyed him suspiciously, clearly angered at having been overruled in the Nautolan's fate.

"Kollo here is the brother of the Rodian fool you killed yesterday. As you can imagine, he doesn't like you very much. He's my security guard though, so you shouldn't worry too much," started the Twi'lek. He opened his arms, trying to look more trustworthy. It wasn't working for Kulon. "Now, let's try you out, I have something I want you to sort out for me."

"And what would that be?"

"Contrary to what you might think, we do protect our businesses. Some hotheads seem to think they can mess with our local droid retailer, forcing him to pay protection money twice. This is not something we can tolerate, so I want you to sort them out."

Kulon nodded his head and prepared to leave.

"Don't kill them, but make sure they can never walk again. I want their blood to stain that sidewalk for a long time as a reminder not to mess with the Green Dragons! Really mess them up. Zeek," Moola pointed at a meek-looking Cerean. "Go with him to learn a thing or two you useless barve. And by the way, it would be nice if you could bring one back for me. You know, just for questioning."

The two walked out, Kulon a cold determination in his gaze and Zeek following closely. "Hey wait," called the Cerean. "Don't you want to get some weapons?"

Kulon turned, looked at him properly for the first time, and smiled. "Show me." The Cerean was obviously quite tall with his egg-shaped head, but he had no muscle on him, or at least very little. His goatee resembled pubic hair more than a beard of any sort and the armor he wore was far too big. It was a red full body suit, the seams colored in white. Luckily it didn't make too much of a noise as he took the lead.

They entered the armory that was guarded by two Gamorreans armed with their traditional axes. The bipedal pigs moved aside when they saw Zeek. "All the guns, blades and armor you could shake a stick at. If you've got the money that is... we have to pay for them ourselves, but we get a special discount."

Kulon looked at the wall in awe: blasters, heavy repeaters, blades, swords, mines and armor lined the walls. Even though it was a relatively small room, there was no shortage of weaponry here. "The problem is, Zeek, I don't have any money."

"No worries I'll lend you some, I'm sure you'll pay me back," answered the Cerean. Kulon sensed admiration coming from his new partner as well as goodwill.

"Alright. I'll take that small blaster here," he pointed at a classic L-23. It was a simple blaster pistol that had spread all over the republic and was easily available anywhere. Of course, he needed a holster too, so he got a black one that stuck to his thigh. "And this heavy rod." The rod in question was two and a half feet long and had small circular grooves along its length. The chrome shimmered in the bright light of the room.

"Advice: this heavy rod is only suited in combat against unarmed opponents. Might I suggest a vibrosword?" said the sales droid in a cold, metallic voice.

"Will the rod resist vibroblades?" asked Kulon, swinging it around, feeling its weight. He liked the perfect balance of it.

"Answer: the rod could resist several powerful direct hits from a vibroblade. The durasteel is tempered."

"Then I'll take it." Kulon put the rod, blaster, holster and some energy packs on the counter.

"Accounting: please pay 1200 credits."

"You said this was a discount store Zeek!"

"Well it is! These things aren't cheap anywhere." They paid and walked out, Zeek already having a vibroblade and blaster. Although the Cerean kept asking, Kulon avoided all questions on his origins, preferring to find out more about the moon he was on and the Twi'lek he worked for.

When the two arrived at the store, there was already an argument. The short fat man who was obviously the store owner was babbling something about there being no protection when he paid protection money and the six aliens around him were getting more and more aggressive. They were all Duros, holding vibroblades. They didn't notice Kulon and Zeek coming up behind them until the store-keeper shouted.

"Finally! You two gangs can sort this out! I am only paying protection money once, and I would like to see something for my troubles."

Kulon impassively held the rod at his side, sizing up his opposition. He could smell Zeek's fear, shivering as he held his blade up vertically with one hand, clearly an amateur. "Let me deal with them," the Nautolan whispered to his partner. "Just watch." He then continued, louder. "You've been messing with the Green Dragons long enough. Time to go home boys. Leave now and we won't hurt you."

"Bahahaha! The Green Dragons send some harmless womprats to teach us a lesson?" mocked the leader, the sole owner of a vibrosword. "Come on, let's show them that the Black Snakes are the new big boys in town. That fishman doesn't even have a blade!"

The others agreed and readied themselves for the fight. Kulon stepped forward, inviting them to strike first by holding his arms open. They seemed a bit worried by his confidence, but finally one of them lunged forward in an attempt to stab. _Too easy. _Kulon rotated his body to the right and brought his rod back forward, causing the Duros to miss his body, keep going and run into the oncoming metal. It connected with his groin with a 'bumpf' and he was actually lifted a little before being thrown back and collapsing. Kulon then took the initiative and moved on to the next one who was too slow to react to a blow to the knee with the rod. A sickening crunch and he was on the ground. The next one tried to attack the Nautolan immediately but the stab from above was caught in Kulon's left hand, who held the arm up and punched the gangster in the face three times, each time with more momentum than the last, before throwing him to the floor with a broken face. Blood spatters could be seen on the ground and on the Nautolan's fist and nose.

_Three down._

Clearly a bit worried, the leader sent his two next men to attack Kulon. They were a meter away from him, holding their blades forward. He lifted the rod above his head and went for the one on his right, roaring in anger as he brought the durasteel down with all his might, crunching his whimpering opponent's shoulder with the impact. The dent was visible even from where Zeek, who gave an audible gasp of horror, was standing. The other Duros, seeing an opportunity, tried to stab him from the side, but Kulon ducked, swung the rod between his assailant's leg and flipped him up before quickly smashing him down onto the floor with another swing to the spine. The sound of the vertebrae cracking was gruesome. This Duros would never walk again.

_One left._

The shop was full of moaning Duros now, all but one too injured to continue the fight and just hoping they would survive. The sword-wielding Duros looked shaken but was still obviously a competent fighter. His legs were apart and the sword held in front of him. Kulon knew he would have to be more careful with this guy. He decided to try him out first, so swung the rod at the vibrosword. The hit was easily blocked but it was immediately followed by another and another, putting the Duros under pressure. Suddenly Kulon was on the defensive as a counterattack came his way, but he parried the strikes until both weapons clashed in the middle and stayed there, both opponents pushing with all their strength. Kulon was stronger, and he forced the sword down onto an exposed electrical wire. The vibrosword conducted the electricity into the hilt, where the battery exploded, removing both the leader's hands. He screamed as he looked at the stumps where his wrist was now exposed.

"Okay! Stop! We give in!" he bellowed in his newly found high-pitched voice. "Have mercy!"

"Quiet," threatened Kulon. "You will be coming with me. The others look messed up enough." He turned to the groaning Duros. "Guys, don't come back. Vreau Moola says so."

"Wait! They're messed up enough? What about me? I'm a cripple for life!" weeped leader. "Don't take me please! I'll give you anything you want! What is he paying you? I bet I can pay you double! Please I-"

With a 'thunk' the squealing alien was knocked out and Kulon lifted the now harmless alien onto his back, bringing it to his new boss.

----

"Ah, you're back," started Vreau when he saw Zeek walking in. Then he caught sight of the Duros with no hands. He grinned. "Oh my, looks like you did teach them a lesson. Pleasing. That'll be all for today, go do what you want."

"Call me when you need me."

Kulon dropped the Duros leader on the floor, not really knowing what else to do with him.

"I will. Zeek, you' re his partner from now on. I want you to learn what you can from him."

"Yes boss!" answered Zeek, pleased. The two walked out, although Kulon heard Vreau get off his chair and kick the Duros who had just woken up.

_Poor sod._

**Hope you liked this one :) Tbc**


	3. TenHutt!

**Ten-Hutt!**

It was a pile of junk, this much Kulon could tell. Oddly shaped, too.. It was a _Wayfarer-_class medium transport from Kuat Systems Engineering. The ship had a hangar attached to the side although Ben had had that reduced in size. He didn't like the idea of not being able to see to the left without a camera. It made the cargo hold smaller (only able to squeeze a few tons of merchandise and one starfighter as opposed to two with room to spare) but that was more than enough for his needs. Every system on it worth any money was either fried or deactivated to avoid attracting attention.

Ben started: "Hyperdrive, battle shield generator, armament systems, the autopilot... should I go on? None of these things work." He turned and smiled at Kulon. "You can help me fix her if you want!"

Kulon smiled. His hands were almost fidgeting at the thought of helping Ben out. He'd spent his lunchtime looking at the blueprints of the ship and found himself understanding how everything worked and what had to be connected to what. He also knew that the first things to get online were the shield generator and hyperspace drive. His last few weeks here, he had been looking at starmaps trying to see something he recognized. He'd read countless encyclopedias on the Holonet, filling his mind with information when he wasn't busy beating someone up for Vreau Moola. By now, most of the time he just had to show up and the lowlife he was supposed to teach a lesson to ran away. He preferred things this way. He had never used his blaster, other than once to see how it worked. He was pretty good, obviously having shot before. _Oh, and there's the small matter of being able to dismantle and rebuild a weapon in mere seconds. Why does all of this come so naturally to me?_

Ben showed Kulon inside. There were quite a few windows to look out of the ship from and generally the ship was quite tidy. Here and there the panels were missing because the electrics underneath failed so often that it had become a chore for Ben to take them off every time.

"Here's the reactor. She doesn't run like she used to you know, but she's mine and that's what's important," said Ben.

Kulon had to ask. "How did you get her?"

"You may not believe this, but back in my day I was a pretty damned good smuggler. You know, most smugglers try to get a fast freighter and run. We saw this beauty being made by Kuat and saved up for years. We had her modified, we had our own little fighter in there. Me and the gang were a fantastic team." He paused, sinking his head in thought. "It was all going splendidly until, well, you don't really wanna know this... "

"Sure I do," said Kulon.

"Basically I lost my crew. It was my fault. I vowed from that day forward to do no more smugglin, no more death. Unfortunately in that battle we had to dump our cargo. The ship had been full to the brim with deathsticks. I mean, not just in the cargo hold but also in here and in the common room. Pizdi the Hutt didn't appreciate that. I had to pay my life savings and sell the fighter to get away, and even that barely covered it. I managed to keep this ship though and that's all that matters." Ben gave a sigh and walked away, taking the service lift to the outside so that he could work on the ship's hull.

Kulon got to work on the shield generator. It was a miracle Ben hard survived so long without it in the junk fields. Big pieces of scrap metal could do a lot of damage to a ship that didn't even have a shield. He found the problem rather quickly: due to an overload of the shields at some stage – presumably caused by ion cannons – the system didn't know how to assign power to the front or back, so just did neither. Seeing as such systems needed calibration, he decided this could take some time and got thinking about the short time of his life he could remember – everything since he woke up.

In fact, the slumdwellers had taken a liking to Kulon. He was always willing to help in whichever way he could; whether it was lending a bit of money to pay their protection (he had always been paid back) or sorting out the petty criminals who preyed upon them, he would do what he could. As a direct result the area was improving slightly: children playing outside and coming home safe, not having been sold into slavery, more smiles on people's faces and less grumbling about Vreau Moola because he paid the Nautolan and therefore looked after them. The gangster boss rather enjoyed this new popularity because it unexpectedly helped his business: people were suddenly more willing to join his protection program, killing less of his men and paying on time. Even Zeek now had friends everywhere, even if it was only because of his partner. Things were really going well.

It was getting late now and Ben had left hours ago already. Kulon had finished fixing the hyperdrive and was applying some finishing touches to it now, lying on his back. He dropped a bold just as he was screwing the covering panel on and it started rolling away from him. In despair he reached for it and suddenly it was in his hand. _Eh? I could have sworn that was at least six feet away! What just happened? _He dismissed it as a tired hallucination and finished screwing in the panel, satisfied he had done his job well. He stood up and prepared to leave. Oddly, he had the feeling he was being watched as he walked out, but he made nothing of it despite his gut telling him to just sprint home. Instead, he walked there without incident. _Man, working for criminals sure makes you paranoid_, he mused. The thought made him grin in that typically Nautolan way. A small but toothy grin.

----

The next day, Kulon got a call from Vreau to come as soon as possible. What was suspicious about this was that instead of being sent somewhere to do something as he usually was, he was summoned to the chamber. Again he had that dark feeling in his gut that something was wrong, but he ignored it and went to his boss. He brought his blaster and rod with him, as he always did.

He walked into the large room and saw Zeek's body on the floor with half his head missing, brains partially on the floor. He didn't need to look up to know that Vreau Moola was sitting in his throne but was also very dead. There were several dead Rodians around Zeek, but none of them were guys Kulon recognized as bodyguards. _No, they were part of the attack. Good for you partner, you took four of them with you to the grave._

"Don't move a muscle!" shouted a voice in Rodian. Even so, Kulon turned and took out his blaster, aiming it at the direction the sound was coming from. "We have this family you cherish so much with us. Do one thing and we'll be able to hit at least one."

Kullo chuckled along with his men. Laxal was there too, the swoop bike gang obviously coming in to assist. "You are finally all getting what wath coming, Nautolan! Drop you blasther and put your handth up!"

Kulon did as he was told and looked at the Mibak family. He mouthed a sorry before he was knocked out by a rifle butt to side of the head. With a crunch he was on the floor, motionless but still breathing.

"Let'th get him outta here boyth," said Kullo. "We need him alive."

Four Rodian grunts picked up a limb each and carried Kulon away, the Mibaks watching sadly as he disappeared through the door. It was Laxal's turn to speak. "As for you: we have a little surprise which I'm sure you'll appreciate. Don't worry," he said to Dada, who was silently sobbing. "It's not the last you've seen of him. The Rancor will be the one who'll make sure of that."

Kulon woke up with a blistering headache and painful jaw. He looked around and saw that both his arms were chained to the smooth gray wall at shoulder height, although he could move them about and, if he stretched, touch the opposing hand's fingers. It was damp, dark and smelly. His tendrils could pick up a few pheromones that had been left here over the years: fear, loathing, death and despair. He still had his clothes on, which was nice. There were no others in the small room, although he could hear the distant sound of music and laughter.

"Hello," he began, speaking loudly but not shouting. "Anybody there?"

"Yes, prisoner, now shut your green mouth before I come in here and give you a good hammering!" shouted a voice from outside the heavy durasteel door.

"Hey, there was no need to be rude. I just wanted to be sure I had guessed right and was in the company of some coward who got put on guard duty," he answered.

Immediately, there were several loud metallic noises as latches and locks were opened on the door. A Quarren male walked in. Kulon stared threateningly at him and was surprised when he heard the Quarren speak without it moving its mouth. The source of the sound was odd; it felt as if it were coming from inside his _own head_.

"I am not a coward! I am here because I am a good guard." There was a pause as Kulon was shocked by the stun baton the alien was holding. A spark could clearly be seen between the weapon and his chest, a little bit of smoke rising as he arched his back and screamed in pain. "That'll teach him," heard Kulon as the guard walked away. _What is going on? He clearly wasn't speaking! _Now he had a mystery to solve. At least he wouldn't be bored in his cell.

The Mibak family was in fact only a few cells further in an identical room. However, they were not shackled because they presented no danger for the guards. A Rodian walked in and pointed at Dada, motioning for her to follow.

"Please don't take her!" shouted Dora at the guard, putting herself between him and her daughter. "She's only young! I beg you, I'll do anything for you to be merciful – anything at all!"

The Rodian moved in, roughly taking Dada by the arm and starting to drag her away, kicking and screaming. "No! Mother! Father! Help me!"

Ben got up and got ready to fight, but the Rodian turned and nonchalantly shot Dora in the heart, then pointed his blaster at Dada's head. The two humans stared in shock, open-mouthed at what had just happened. They then both started crying, Ben holding his dead wife in his arms and Dada slumping, sliding as she was dragged away. Kulon could hear their cries of despair despite the heavy door and raged, trying to free himself from his chains to no avail.

Kulon looked around, his sight still a little blurry from the sedative he had been given. Dada was in a revealing outfit, chained to Pizdi the Hutt. She was a good looking girl and was the Hutt's new toy, although he planned to give her to his distant cousin Jabba as a gift. Pizdi knew Jabba's tastes, and he knew that Jabba particularly liked petite, dark-haired human girls who put up a fight and boy, was this one feisty! She had bitten his Quarren assistant when he had tried to make a particularly vile move on her. Kulon sighed. He was now in the place where the laughter and music had been coming from, a dark bar with the Hutt taking an entire wall for himself and his special guests, a stage with some musicians in the middle surrounded by a crowd of drinking rough-types either standing up or relaxing on comfortable sofas and of course himself, suspended in chains from the ceiling about 5 meters up.

His arms ached from the suspension, and he wondered how long he'd been up there already. He saw Ben suspended in a comparatively comfortable-looking cage a few meters away, but the old man was busy staring at his daughter and didn't notice the Nautolan's waking up.

"Psssst! Ben!" he whispered. The old man looked across at him, but all he saw in his eyes was sadness. Suddenly, the cage began to move away from Kulon in the direction of the musical stage. That was also moving, revealing a large hole where a deafening roar came from.

"Kulon. Dora's dead, and I don't know how long I've got left. Look after Dada for me," said the old man. His cage stopped above the hole and descended, the chain holding it getting longer until Ben was eye-to-eye with the crowd, who were laughing and whooping at the excitement. Ben addressed the Hutt: "You're dead, sluggy!"

"Ho Ho Ho," laughed Pizdi. He was joined by the rest of the crowd. "No, I think you'll find it is you who will be dead soon," he replied in Huttese before laughing manically again. "You helped Kulon Taimo, Ben Mibak, and Kulon was helping Vreau Moola get far too powerful. I'm sorry, but that just couldn't be tolerated."

With that, Pizdi held out his hand and lowered his thumb, indicating that he wanted the cage's bottom to be opened. Ben fell into the hole beneath, and a roar confirmed the beast below had seen its prey. Ben screamed.

"No!" shouted Dada as she desperately lunged forward to see into the hole, pulling the massive Hutt off-balance and making him roll onto his face. He was incapable of getting up, and somehow this seemed to be an opportunity an assassin in the crowd did not want to miss. A volley of blaster bolts was fired at Pizdi, and the retaliation was immediate too, although the assassin dodged the bolts and hit one of the bodyguards with a stray laser bolt. He fell back and instinctively pulled the trigger on his repeater, shooting an arc of bolts and hitting the chains holding Kulon. As he fell, he somehow knew Ben was already dead. A semi-circle of bodyguards was forming around the injured, but not dead, Hutt, and Kulon now had two objectives:

_Get Dada and get out – preferably to the ship._

**Hope you like it guys, please review! Just so I know if I even have one reader! **


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